by Tina Clough
Mia was reluctant to talk about it so soon; she suddenly felt mercenary. “Thank you, but there’s no need to do it right now – it feels like I’m benefiting from someone else’s misfortune, somehow.”
“No, it isn’t Mia, not at all. Remember that Josh was looking to gain something for himself, reputation or admiration for his clever promotion scheme, even if it didn’t work out. And I’m sure he was planning to put all the blame on you when the errors in that costing were discovered. As they would have been sooner or later! So don’t you feel sorry for him! He’s the author of his own fate and he’d have sacrificed you without a second thought.”
“I know you’re right – I already figured that he could have used me as a scapegoat. But let’s leave it until he’s been dismissed - it will feel more pleasant when he’s really gone!”
They set a date for Mia’s review for the following week and she returned to her room. On an impulse she rang Lorraine, who was at work in the Designers boutique. Not that she was going to start telling her this drama right now over the phone, but it’s just nice to have a chat. They talked about this and that and decided that having dinner out next week might be nice.
Just as Mia was about to put the phone down she had an idea. “And another thing, Lorraine. I’m going out for dinner tomorrow night with Thomas and clients of his, to a smart restaurant. I want to wear that short black and white dress I bought from you for Sarah’s dinner, but not with trousers. I tried it with tights and shoes, but it didn’t look right – perhaps it’s me, not the right proportions? Any ideas?”
Lorraine didn’t even need to think. “No, I don’t think you should wear it as a conventional dress, that ruins the idea - not stockings and high heels. Try it with black leggings and high-heeled boots. That will work and it’s dressier than the trousers. Have you got nice boots?”
“Oh yes, I’ve got a lovely pair, very indoors kind of boots. I’ll get myself the right kind of tights and do that, sounds good. Thank you. But I must come and find another couple of dressy things too; I’m obviously going to need them in this new life of mine. Perhaps you could find some things for me to try on? If you don’t mind being both legal and fashion advisor?”
She put the phone down on Lorraine’s catchy chuckle and looked at the mess on her desk. It was well into the afternoon and what she needed was lunch. She picked up her bag and jacket and headed for the foyer, telling Alice that she would be back at two.
CHAPTER 16
With a copy of the paper and a bowl of pumpkin soup she took her time and enjoyed being out of the office. Turning a page she came across the dreaded column “And what have we here?” Her eyes flew down the lines. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw her name halfway down the column. She backtracked and read the paragraph from the top:
“We have further news about modest Mia, who made the accurate but unheeded prophesy of Steve Irwin’s accident. Despite Mia shunning publicity and refusing to be interviewed, we now know that she also predicted a cathedral fire in St Petersburg, and was again accurate in every detail. Our witness tells us that the fire took place on the stated date and everything happened exactly according to the prophecy. We can’t help speculating about what other uses this extraordinary talent could be put to. We believe Mia is communicating with the police regarding undisclosed incidents – which no doubt bodes ill for some! Our investigation continues and we hope to bring you more news soon.”
Mia made a sound of outrage and the couple at the next table turned to look at her. Embarrassed she turned the page and started reading something she was not in the least bit interested in, while she finished her soup. Worried thoughts swirled through her head. What if this Kelly woman prints my full name next time? Has Miles given her more information, despite being warned not to? I must calm down and think logically. The St Catherine’s fire was mentioned when Kelly first rang me, so Miles must have told her that at the start. Bringing it out now, as if it had just been discovered, was just a journalistic ploy. Maybe he’s not told her anything more and she’s just spinning it out for effect. She texted the others and told them to check the paper.
That evening Thomas had a late meeting after work and would go back to his place afterwards. The apartment seemed empty and quiet without him. Mia was watching TV when the phone rang. It was a woman from the garage, apologising profusely for ringing her in the evening.
“We haven’t got a number for you at work, but I really wanted to get hold of you. There’s a possibility that the tyres we fitted on your Civic are faulty. We’ve had a recall notice from the manufacturer and need to take the tyres off the wheels to check them. We’d like to have your car for half a day if possible.”
“That’s OK - I don’t need the car until Saturday. When do you want me to drop it in?”
“We don’t want to put you to any trouble. If it’s OK we’ll send someone round to your work about midday tomorrow to pick the car up and then we’ll deliver it back at the end of the day. Would that suit you?”
“Yes, that’s OK. I’ll give you my mobile number, so you can let me know when someone’s on the way.”
“Great! We want to get these checks done, so people don’t set out on long trips with tyres that could start delaminating.”
Later Mia read through her list of future events, trying to tease some more detail out of her memory. After quarter of an hour she realised that trying to force her memory to bring up more details was not working. I’ll listen to music and think of other things and let the back of my mind do the work.
She flicked through CDs looking for inspiration and found one she had hardly ever played. Her cousin had given it to her a couple of years ago – blues music from the American South. She turned the CD over and read the song titles, but the only familiar one was “Midnight Special”. The words Delta Blues caught her eye and a penny dropped. Delta Blues was the name of the Melbourne Cup winner! And suddenly she knew the other thing that linked the first and second place-getters too. Both horses had Japanese owners. I can’t wait to tell Thomas about my day – he’ll be impressed. Mia spent the evening reading and listening to music, pleased with her progress.
Thomas rang just as Mia got out of the shower. She ran to the kitchen to pick up the phone and returned to the bathroom to get a towel, rubbing her hair while they talked.
“I missed you last night, cara Mia. My meeting went on forever - it was just as well you didn’t wait up for me. I didn’t get home till half past eleven. What did you do?”
“Well, let’s see – I did some boring chores and then I found something that reminded me of the name of the Melbourne Cup winner. So that problem is solved – feel free to be as greedy as you like.”
She told him the details of what she had recalled. “Better make a note of it! And the Josh saga is just about over – it happened all at once, the perfect storm. There’s only the formal dismissal still to come, but it’s a given. It was such a big day! And I feel so relieved now some of the worst is over – I can’t tell you how good it was to get home last night and just blob out – aimless and worry-free.” She put the towel down and moved the phone to her other hand. “ I’ll tell you the whole thing when we see each other – the Josh thing was amazing. It happened so fast it didn’t feel real.”
She laughed at her own amazement. “Isn’t it funny how you feel sorry for people, even when they deserve what happens to them? I mean, I know he’s a villain and I know that he brought it on himself, but I still pity him in a way.”
“Don’t waste any pity on him – he was going to sacrifice you on the altar of his own ambition. And you know from last time that he wouldn’t spare a thought for your fate!”
“That’s exactly what Alan said, too – well, he didn’t mention last time, of course. I know you’re right, but when I think of how he must feel…”
“Mia, what he is feeling is most likely shame and embarrassment – and probably not for what he did, but because he was found out. But I love you for being soft-hearted, it
’s a very endearing trait.”
“I’m not that soft! Not like the marshmallow I was in that other life – then I couldn’t bear to confront anyone and I let people walk all over me. I think I’m getting very assertive this time round, nearly stroppy.”
Thomas laughed, affectionately disbelieving. “Hard as a rock! I’ll nominate you for the Cynic of the Year award. But I must brag a bit too - we had such a brilliant meeting last night. We secured a new key client - very key in fact. He may well turn out to be our biggest so far. That’s why we ended up being so late. The meeting with the client was over by nine, and we stayed on at the office and had a couple of drinks and celebrated. One of the great things is that he’s got contacts and networks that could be very useful to us in the future – heaven knows that even one or two more clients of his calibre would add enormously to the business.”
“That’s good, so long as you don’t end up working twelve-hour days to cope with it?”
“If we got one or two more like him we’d have to add another lawyer or accountant to the team – not as a partner, but hire someone one to work for us. At the moment we do all the front-end work ourselves and have a couple of support people, so the idea of hiring another professional is a big step forward. Do you want me to pick you up and take you to work?”
“No, thanks, I have to take the car. I haven’t had time to tell you yet - the garage rang and said they need to check all the new tyres they just put on – something’s wrong with a certain batch and they need the car for half a day. So I’m driving to work and they’ll pick it up at lunchtime. I’ll have it back by the end of the day.”
“OK - I’ll ring you later this morning about arrangements for tonight – you haven’t forgotten about the dinner?”
“Heavens no, I’m really looking forward to it. I’ll talk to you later – if I don’t get a move on I’ll be late for work.”
Parking behind the building proved impossible. She was late and all the car parks behind the office had been taken. She drove out to the street again and put the car in a metered space about a block along from the office, making a mental note to remember going out to feed the meter or move it mid-morning.
Alice had been on the lookout for her. “Do you know what happened to Josh? I’ve been told that he’s not going to be here for ‘a while’ and to pass everything on to Alan. And more information to come later! A real mystery, but I hear that you and Alan were in the CEO’s office yesterday?”
The unspoken expectation was clear and Mia knew that she had to tread a careful path between telling outright lies and revealing too much. “How on earth did you find that out?”
“Mandy was on the top floor about something and saw you and Alan looking serious and in a hurry, and she told me when she came in this morning.”
“I’m sorry Alice, but the full story isn’t mine to tell and I don’t want to speculate about it – not just yet anyway. I think there will be some sort of announcement from the CEO either tomorrow or the next day and I’ve promised not to talk about it until then. I really think the best thing would be if you talk as little as possible about it until it’s officially out there.”
“OK, I’ll do that, but only because you look so serious. But you’ll have to promise to tell me what you know as soon as you can – I’m at the helm of this ship and I have to know what goes on.”
Mia gave a mock salute and continued to her room considering what she would tell Callum and Alice. The sooner she was able to be open about it the better – if Mandy was spreading rumours already the place would be fizzing with half-baked theories and mad stories before lunchtime. She got to her desk and realised she hadn’t told Alice about the car - she rang reception. “I forgot to say that a mechanic will turn up at lunchtime to collect my car. I couldn’t park in the back yard, so it’s on a meter down the road. Can you call me on my mobile, if I’m not at my desk when he arrives? I’ll come out and show him where the car is.”
“I’ll do that. And I’m sorry if I tried to gossip about Josh earlier – it’s obviously serious. I won’t say anything to anyone until the CEO tells us whatever he’s going to tell us.”
Alan came to discuss some of Josh’s work in progress that Mia could take over for the moment. He put a pile of files on her desk. “I’ve had a look through these and I’ve made some notes, but nothing in-depth. We’ll need to sit down and put our heads together to make sure we don’t miss anything. It’s always hard to pick up something that’s been taken to the halfway stage, but I’m sure we’ll cope. I hope you can fit it in along with that project you’re involved with.”
He had heard nothing new about Josh, but “the day is young and things might happen sooner rather than later”. And as if on cue half an hour later an email from the CEO arrived, obviously sent to everyone in the company saying that Josh Greene had been discovered in serious misconduct, that he had been given time to take legal advice and had done so, but that he had decided to not dispute the allegation and was therefore dismissed with immediate effect. It was clearly a very carefully worded statement scripted by someone who knew employment law. Literally seconds after she had read it Mia got a call from David Wilson.
“I just sent out an email memo, Mia. I’m aware that a lot of speculation is going on in some departments – I believe our internal Gossip Central has done a great job already this morning and managed to make a lot of people very curious.”
She knew he could only be talking about Mandy. “I know, I’ve been asked questions about it already.”
“Feel free to tell people the facts of what you discovered, but remember that anything we discussed in my office or any comments of mine or Alan’s must remain confidential. It’s lucky you found so much evidence before you talked to Alan. It can be very hard for the employer to let other staff know the facts without breaching the employment laws, but we can’t stop you telling your side.”
Encouraged by his friendly approach Mia asked a question. “Do you feel that it’s so important that people know the whole story?”
“Yes, I certainly do. Mostly they never find out, as I said, and you end up with a mishmash of gossip and assumptions based on whatever people tell each other. And before you know it you’ve got all sorts of rumours about unfairness and people having been set up by management and goodness knows what. The thing is that the law protects the employee but not the employer. The employee can tell any kind of story they like, but management can’t put the record straight without breaking confidentiality.”
Mia was surprised at the passion in his voice. “You sound as if you’ve experienced this - to feel so strongly?” She hesitantly ventured a personal comment, hoping he would not object, but she really wanted to know. He laughed without amusement. “Yes, I certainly have. And it became a nightmare for me personally. But that was some years ago and now I’m very grateful for your role in this. Someday I might tell you about that other drama – you’ll be amazed.”
She put the phone down and sat for a moment, thinking. Being moved around in time had given her unexpected opportunities. She sent a compassionate thought to Carl, who had been moved forwards in time and suffered greatly. How unfair fate is; I must always remember that chance put me here, not personal merit. She shook herself into action, plugged her mobile in to charge and started on one of Josh’s briefs, trying to get a grip on what she could contribute before handing them back to Alan.
Though she was reluctant to disrupt her train of thought she felt obliged to play her role as truth spreader on behalf of David Wilson, so she rang Alice. “Come past and pick me up when you go upstairs for coffee – if we can find a quiet corner I’ll tell you what happened with Josh.”
“You bet! Wild rhinos couldn’t keep me away,” said Alice. “My relief is coming out at 10.15 today – see you then!” Half a minute later she rang back. “Is it OK if I tell Callum so he can hear it too?”
“Goodness, yes, invite anyone you like. I can only tell you what I know first-hand and once I’ve told o
ne person it’s on public record – it’s not a secret.”
Alice, true to her word arrived at quarter past ten on the dot. Mia looked at her expectant face and laughed. “I’m not going to tell you one single thing until we’re upstairs – I need to sit down and concentrate, so I get everything in the right order.”
“That’s fine – I asked Callum to meet us up there and he said he might bring Tex, if you don’t mind. Better that we all hear it at the same time, anyway. My goodness, what a lovely drama!”
Not for the first time Mia reflected on the seeming naiveté of Alice’s. She makes remarks that are nearly childish, but in reality she’s just so straight-out honest. She says what most people only think in the privacy of their own minds. And if they were to say them they’d dress them up to disguise the fact that all they want is a good piece of gossip, whereas Alice comes straight out with it. She doesn’t bother with any window-dressing to make it more acceptable – which is one reason I’m so fond of her.
Mia told the story of Josh’s fury at the project costing and their argument about it, and of the evening she returned to pick up the shopping bags from her office and found him going through her filing cabinets. She explained her suspicion that he was up to something and how she then came across the proposal in the copy room and realised that her calculations had been altered.
Alice, Callum and Tex were spellbound. She told them how she had saved a copy of the spreadsheet which had provided dated proof, and that she had remembered an additional piece of evidence that she hadn’t had to use - the email she had mistakenly sent to Joe on the top floor with the file in its original state attached.